


Burnt Out

by sailboatsupernova



Series: Soft Gay [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Outbound Flight - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Attraction, Blushing, Crushes, Desire, Developing Relationship, Friendship, M/M, One-Sided Sexual Tension, Pining, Shirtless, Thrawn is not totally unaware of what just happened, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-08 20:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11089314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailboatsupernova/pseuds/sailboatsupernova
Summary: If Jorj had had some sort of awarningbefore he entered he absolutely wouldn't have looked. Honest.





	Burnt Out

**Author's Note:**

> This kinda straddles the line between G and T ratings (was gonna be totally G but then Jorj had to start having _thoughts_ and it just spiraled from there). It's really nothing bad but the rating may go up later. Idk.
> 
> But yeah, big tone shift from what's usually in this series, to the point where I debated posting it.

It had been getting steadily hotter throughout the ship. When he first noticed it Jorj had been worried it had something to do with the engine, but the overall lack of panic among the Chiss crew members debunked that theory to his relief. Knowing that they were not about to go up in a ball of fire was comforting enough for awhile, but it had been half an hour since he had seen a blue woman head off deeper into the ship with a toolkit, and it was still growing hotter.

He had thought it was just himself and his fellow humans aboard that were uncomfortable, but then he caught a few of the Chiss looking miserable and picking at the high collars of their own uniforms when they thought no one was looking and Jorj decided that this was getting a bit ridiculous. Letting Maris know where he was going he went off to go find the Commander to see if he had any sort of ETA on when this heat would be fixed. 

He was nowhere to be found on the bridge, and Jorj's next guess lead him deeper into the ship where he knew Thrawn's personal quarters were. As he stepped up to the door Jorj made a silent plea that the alien wouldn't be annoyed at the intrusion. Thrawn had told Jorj where he lived on the ship "for dire emergencies", and this certainly didn't count as anything as serious as what the Commander had been implying. Still though, Jorj's shirt was starting to stick to him thanks to all the sweat and a few of the Chiss looked as though they might pass out if it wasn't for their own pride. 

"Commander Thrawn?" He called at the door and knocked, loudly enough to be sure he was heard through the metal. "It's Jorj Car'das, do you mind if I come in?" 

He was met with a long moment of silence but then Jorj heard the soft click of the door unlocking. It was all Jorj could do not to sigh in relief as he keyed for the door to open. He planned to start with an apology for bothering the other man but that flew right out the proverbial window once he stepped into the room. 

Thrawn was sitting sideways across a cushioned chair farther in the room, legs splayed apart with one thrown over the armrest and the other planted on the ground, with one arm dangling limply over the side of the chair. His other hand was pressed against his forehead, thumb and middle finger rubbing circles against his temples. The sight of it had Jorj frozen in place, mouth opening then closing as he tried to decide how to broach such a vision. There was a certain sense of _disbelief_ in seeing a man like Commander Thrawn in such a position. It was rather unfitting for a man still in his uniform. 

Well, half in uniform. Thrawn's jacket was completely unfastened down the front, the flaps pulled over to each side, and the sleeves pushed down off his shoulders. Completely exposing the blue skin and muscles of his chest to anyone who wandered in. _T_ _o anyone he_ let _in_ , some dark corner of Jorj's mind supplied, _the door was_ _locked_. 

"Please close the door after yourself, Jorj. I do not want my crew to see me like this."

Jorj blinked and felt himself blush as he realized he had been standing in the Commander's doorway just openly gawking at the man. "Right, sorry--" his hand missed the button a few times in his shock but finally pressed the correct spot on the panel. Closing himself in with the half shirtless alien, he realized belatedly. _Well, it's too late to excuse myself now_. He took another step into the room, both trying to look anywhere but Thrawn and simultaneously failing. The low-lighting that the Chiss preferred was certainly not helping, turning the sight in front of him into something more intriguing and seductive than what it should have been. 

The many moments when Jorj had been wondering what the Commander looked like under his uniform was not doing him any favors either, but he never would have thought that he would actually find out. 

And  _damn,_ he looked good. Of course he had to have pretty body too. It wasn't like that was _unfair_ or anything. Thrawn had the sort of physique that had to be worked and trained for. He didn't look unlike a dancer, well-toned and graceful though there was a bulk to him that likely came from fulfilling military needs rather than artistic ones.

Jorj's desire to press his hands against that beautiful expanse of flesh was embarrassingly strong.

He realized that he would never be able to watch Thrawn work again without seeing this image. He'd be guessing which of the Commander's movements would shift which muscles for the rest of his time on this ship, stuck mentally visualizing this form in motion. 

"The system that regulates the ship's internal temperature is down."

Jorj blinked as Thrawn's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He could feel his face growing red at the realization of just how far his thoughts had roamed, his blush blazing hot and only helped by the hot air around him. "The temperature?"

Jorj met Thrawn's eyes just in time to see a sliver of red eye crack open and a blue-black eye brow arch in a silent question. "You came about the heat, did you not?"

 _Right, the heat._ "Yes, though I'm not trying to file a formal complaint or anything. It's just getting a little warm." Jorj was personally feeling a lot warmer since he had stepped into the room - he could only hope that Thrawn wouldn't notice his blush.

"Hm. Our core temperatures must be different because I can assure you that this is quite unbearable for myself."

Jorj's eyes locked onto a sweat drop as it descended from Thrawn's jaw down his neck and over his collar bone. He licked his lips and swallowed in an attempt to control the saliva building up in his mouth. "I can only imagine."

Staying in here was a bad idea. Horrible idea. It wasn't helping that Jorj certainly did not _want_ to leave. He needed to get out and _soon_ before he embarrassed himself by saying something. Or doing something. Hell, _both_  were pretty likely. 

"I received a notification about fifteen minutes ago that the issue was almost resolved. It should not be too much longer." Thrawn shut the eye that had been watching Jorj and let the hand at his forehead fall to rest against the back of his chair. "I apologize for you having to see me this way. This is rather uncivil of me, and I hope that you do not think ill of me for my attempt to stay cool." 

It was only by sheer force of will and biting his lip that Jorj was able to keep a burst of self-depreciating laughter to himself. _He's apologizing to me for being "uncivil" and here I am just admiring the view._ "You shouldn't worry. It would take a lot more than you being out of uniform to make me think any less of you." 

Thrawn nodded. "Then I would like to also apologize for this occurrence. We do not often have maintenance problems." 

"The air system doesn't shut down often?"

"Rarely, if ever. We take excellent care of our ships here, but it is an inevitability. Things eventually break."

 _Yeah, like my resolve_. "Well, it's good to hear that this doesn't happen often." 

Jorj just received another nod and silence filled the room after that. It was not awkward, but Jorj couldn't help but feel his own stress level rise in the quiet. He forced his eyes to stay on Thrawn's face - there was no way he was going to risk ogling again, but the longer the silence went on the harder it got to not steal another quick look. 

In a last ditch effort, Jorj opened his mouth to speak - about what he wasn't sure of yet - but a soft ping from somewhere on the floor by Thrawn saved him the effort. 

"Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, sir."

Thrawn picked up the comm unit from the floor and responded, listening as the feminine voice on the other end claimed that the problem had been solved. A moment later there was a soft vibration through the ship and air started moving, already feeling cooler against Jorj's warm skin. 

There was an almost silent sigh of relief from Thrawn as thanked the voice for her work. Jorj watched as he set the comm unit back on the floor and slumped deeper in the chair, letting himself go limp as he enjoyed the cooling air. Jorj didn't bother trying to fight himself. He let himself peek one last time at the Commander, and quickly took in the sight of the Commander's hard form pliant and relaxed. 

His eyes were back to Thrawn's face just before the man sat up and started to pull his jacket back into place. He tugged it back up his arms and over his shoulders, pulled the sides of his jacket together and started refastening it. Never before had Jorj known what a shame it was that Chiss insisted on being so covered up. 

"I believe that has answered your problem then."

"Problem?" Jorj repeated, mourning the loss of his view as Thrawn fastened his collar shut. 

Thrawn glanced up at him, something that was almost worry in his eyes. "The air shutting off, Jorj."

"Ah, right." Jorj nodded and his blush took on a darker hue of red that was more inspired by embarrassment. "Yeah, that solved it all right. Anyway, I should get back to the others to give them the good news."

"Are you sure you are well enough to be walking around, Jorj? The heat seems to have had an impact on your focus." 

"No, no," Jorj said with enough forced assurance that he almost convinced himself he was perfectly fine. He clicked the button for the door to open with a jab of his finger. "I'm fine Thrawn, no reason to worry." _Just need a cold shower is all. Maybe a stern talking to about personal boundaries._ "I'll see you on the bridge later." 

And on that parting note, Jorj made his escape, hoping that it wasn't as obvious as it felt. He let his feet carry him back the way he came, trying to get himself under control and let the chilled air do its job of cooling him down. A part of him felt bad about not attempting to better assure Thrawn that he really was fine, but he honestly did not know what might have come out of his mouth if he stayed around while Thrawn interrogated him about his health. _Or decided to check me over himself._ Jorj frowned at the thought and shook his head. _Cold shower. Boundaries._

He spotted Maris on his way back, sitting in the floor and wiping down the front of a datapad. She glanced up at the sound of footsteps and when she spotted Jorj she set her cleaning rag aside and grinned. 

"Hey Jorj," she called out and pointed her finger up towards the ceiling. "The air is back on! Did you work some kind of magic with the Commander or something?" 

" _No_ ," Jorj replied, perhaps a bit hastily if the look on Maris's face was to go by. He winced and forced his voice into something that hopefully sounded calm. "No, nothing like that. We just spoke a bit and it happened to get fixed while I was there. I'm going to take a quick shower though, so if anyone asks can you tell them I'm busy?"

"Sure thing. A shower sounds like a good idea right now actually..." She trailed off and plucked at the front of her shirt, staring down at the sweat stains. 

Jorj let a short laugh escape him and he shook his head. "More so than you can imagine. I'll see you later." 

Maris nodded and watched him as he disappeared into his own quarters. Her eyebrows furrowed as she considered that last odd comment he made, but shrugged it off and went back to scrubbing the oily smudges on her datapad's screen. Jorj had been acting a bit odd here lately anyway, it was probably nothing to worry about. 

 

 

 

 

Thrawn watched the man go, concerned despite his assurances.

The human was clearly suffering from something. He had never seen Jorj in such a state and while he had not displayed any signs of a heat stroke, Thrawn knew that humans most likely had different symptoms than Chiss. The warmth that had suddenly collected in Jorj's cheeks upon entering his quarters had been odd as well. It was not a reaction he had seen in Jorj before, nor had he seen anything similar in the other humans. It seemed rather dangerous, for heat to be collecting so close to someone's brain when they were already suffering from being heated externally. 

Then there was the matter of Jorj's roaming eyes, but he could look into that later. For now, he would simply give the man his space and make an inquiry with Ferasi later about Jorj's well-being in regards to actual health concerns. 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by (but with a _real_ loose interpretation of) [this artwork](http://captainmazzic.tumblr.com/post/157341301360/cardas-hesitated-blinking-away-surprise-as-he) by captainmazzic. (nsfw-ish)


End file.
